Cultivating implements

ABSTRACT

A cultivator connectable to the three point lifting hitch of a tractor and having a plurality of side-by-side rotatable supports with tines. The frame has a trestle which connects to the tractor&#39;&#39;s hitch. The supports and tines are turnable about shafts and mounted in a row with vertically adjustable screens with locking guides located at each end of the row. The frame of the cultivator includes an upper and two lower arms connected to the tractor&#39;&#39;s three point hitch. A further implement, such as a seed drill machine has a further coupling trestle which can be pivotally connected to the arms and trails the tine supports. Also, a roller is adjustably mounted on the frame, immediately to the rear of the tine supports. The tines are tapered towards their bent-over tips and can be rectangular in section.

United States Patent [1 1 Van Der Lely et a1.

CULTIVATING IMPLEMENTS Inventors: Ary Van Der Lely, 10 Weverskade,

Maasland; Cornelis Johannes Gerardus Bom, 36 Esdoornlaan, Rozenburg,both of Netherlands Filed: Apr. 24, 1972 Appl. No.: 246,738

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 43,006, June 3,1970, abandoned.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 10, 1969 Netherlands 6908785US. Cl 172/59, 172/112, 172/160, 172/439 [51] Int. Cl A0lb 33/00 Fieldof Search 172/59, 112, 68, 523, 160, 172/668, 439, 776

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1857 Glascock 172/52312/1893 Kelsey 172/59 1/1952 Ticc 172/112 X 9/1952 Hancock.. 172/6684/1970 Paynter 172/68 11/1970 Van Der Lely 172/112 X [111 3,826,314 1July 30, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,714,826 5/1969Netherlands 172/59 1,009,414 8/1956 Germany 172/160 847,413 9/1960 GreatBritain 172/523 6,715,977 5/1969 Netherlands 172/59 PrimaryExaminer-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-R. T. Rader Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Mason, Mason and Albright [5 7] ABSTRACT A cultivatorconnectable to the three point lifting hitch of a tractor and having aplurality of side-by-side rotatable supports with tines. The frame has atrestle which connects to the tractors hitch. The supports and tines areturnable about shafts and mounted in a row with vertically adjustablescreens with locking guides located at each end of the row. The frame ofthe cultivator includes an upper and two lower arms connected to thetractors three point hitch. A further implement, such as a seed drillmachine has a further coupling trestle which can be pivotally connectedto v the arms and trails the tine supports. Also, a roller is adjustablymounted on the frame, immediately to the rear of the tine supports. Thetines are tapered towards their bent-over tips and can be rectangular insection.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 CULTIVATING IMPLEMENTS This is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 43,006 now abandoned, filed June 3,1970.

According to the invention, there is provided a cultivating implement orcultivator of the kind set forth, wherein the perpendicular distancebetween neighbouring non-horizontal axes is not greater than 30centimeters, and wherein each soil-working member includes two tinesthat taper towards their tips, the angle of taper of each tine being notgreater than 6.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the samemay be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way ofexample, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cultivating implement or cultivator inaccordance with the invention coupled to the rear of an agriculturaltractor,

FIG. 2 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing adjusting mechanisms and other'partsthat can be seen in FIG. 1 of the drawings to an enlarged scale and ingreater detail,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, to an enlarged scale, of a singlecultivating tine of the implement, and

FIG. 5 corresponds to FIG. 3 but shows an alternative construction.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the soil cultivatingimplement or cultivator which is illustrated has a mobile frame which isconstituted principally by a main frame beam or casing 1 that is ofhollow formation and that extends substantially horizontallyperpendicular to the intended direction of operative travel of theimplement which is indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1 of the drawings.Twelve soil-working members are supported by the main frame beam 1- soas to extend in side-by-side relationship in a direction parallel to thelength of the beam 1. Each soil-working member comprises a substantiallyvertical shaft 2 rotatably mounted in a corresponding substantiallyvertical bearing 3 and also a support 4 secured to the lower end of theshaft 2. The upper ends of cultivating tines 5 are releasably secured tothe supports 4 and it will be seen from the drawings (and particularlyfrom FIG. 4 thereof) that each tine, 5 is of rectangular or othernon-circular cross-section and tapers from its uppermost end to itslowermost tip. The angle of taper a (FIG. 4) between the opposite edgesof each tine 5 is quite small and preferably has a magnitude of not morethan 6. It can be seen from FIG. 2 of the drawings that each soilworkingmember is arranged to rotate in the opposite direction to its neighbour,or both its neighbours, by

way of gearing contained within the hollow frame beamv or casing 1. Thetines 5 have lower portions which are gently bent-over relative to upperportions thereof and said tines are connected to their supports 4 insuch a way that they trail when the soil-working members are rotated inthe directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2. The tines 5 aresecured to the supports 4 with the aid of the grooves that are formed inthe upper portions thereof, one such groove being visible in FIG. 4 ofthe be either more, or less, than the twelve soil-working members withwhich the example illustrated in the accompanying drawings is provided.

The uppermost ends of two arms 7 are pivotally connected to the oppositeends of the main frame beam or casing 1 towards the front of the latter(with respect to the direction A) by means of horizontally aligned pins6. That end of each arm 7 which is remote from the corresponding pin 6takes the form of a downwardly bent-over portion 8 and lowermost endregions of the two portions 8 have a roller 9 rotatably mounted betweenthem with the aid of central stub shafts 10 of that roller. The axis ofrotation afforded by the stub shafts 10 of the roller 9 is asubstantially horizontal one extending parallel to the longitudinal axisof the main frame beam 1 and perpendicular to the direction A. Anaxially displaceable horizontal locking pin 11 is carried by each ofthe'two arms 7 at a point adjacent the integral connection to thedownwardly bent-over portion 8 of that arm.-Each arm 7 is disposedalongside a corresponding vertical plate 13 mounted at one end of themain frame beam 1 and it will be seen from the drawings that each plate13 is formed with a curved row of holes 12 with the center of curvatureof the row coincident with the axis afforded by the aligned pins 6. Theholes 12 are at the same distance from the pins 6 as the locking pins 11and, therefore, the locking pins 11 can be entered in chosen ones of theholes 12 to maintain the arms 7 in corresponding angular settings aboutthe axis afforded by thepivot pins 6. It'will also be noted from thedrawings that the plates 13 have inclined lower edges and thus have amuch smaller vertical extent at the front (with respect to the directionA) than at the rear.

Screening plates 14 are connected to the opposite ends of the main framebeam or casing-l with the aid of rods 15 whose uppermost ends areslidable upwardly and downwardly with respect to guides 16 mountedforwardly and rearwardly of the beam 1 with respect to the direction A.It will be evident that the screening plates 14 are normally disposedimmediately above the ground surface during operation of the cultivator.The guides 16 are of channel-shaped formation, the upper ends of therods 15 being received between the two flanges of the various channels.Eccentricsv 17 of the disc-like formation are turnably mounted betweenthe flanges of the channel-shaped guides 16in such a way that the upperends of the rods 15 are sandwiched between the eccentrics and the websor basesof the guides 16. The leading eccentrics 17 with respect to thedirection A carry handles 19 and the rearward ones I carry brackets 18and both said brackets 18 and handles 19 can be turned manually to causethe eccentrics 17 to clamp the upper ends 'of the rods 15 tightly inposition with respect to the guides 16 and thus dictate the levels ofthe screening plates 14 with respect to the rev a g mainder of thecultivator.

drawings. Each tine 5 preferably has a length of about 25 centimetersand the perpendicular distance between neighbouring shafts 2 ispreferably also about 25 centimeters, the tines 5 of neighbouringsoil-working members being arranged so that they work overlapping stripsof ground during operation of the implement. It will, of course, berealised that there may, if required,

A coupling member or trestle 20 is fastened to a central region of thefront of the main frame beam or casing 1, said coupling member ortrestle 20 being constructed for connection to the three-pointliftingdevice or hitch of an agricultural tractor 21 or other operatingvehicle in a generally known manner. Strengthening arms 22 rigidlyinterconnect an upper region of the trestle 20 and a rear edge region ofthe top of the main frame beam or casing l. The arms22 diverge relativeto one another between the trestle 20 and the beam 1 lifting device orhitch of the tractor 21 of other vehicle pivotally connected to them inknown manner while their rearmost ends have one end of a coupling arm 25turnably mounted between them with the aid of a horizontal pivot pin 24.The rear of the'trestle 20 with respect to the direction A has twohorizontally spaced apart lugs 26 projecting rearwardly from it andthese two lugs 26 have the leading ends of two coupling arms 28 turnablyconnected to'them with the aid of horizontally aligned pivot pins 27.The rearmost ends of the single upper coupling arm 25 and the two lowercoupling arms 28 are turnably connected to. the top and bottomrespectively of a further coupling member or trestle 31 that is ofapproximately triangular configuration when seen in front, or rear,elevation. The pivotal connections between the arms 25 and 28 and thetrestle 31 are afforded by an upper horizontal pivot pin 29 and a pairof horizontally aligned lower pivot pins 30.

j The coupling member or trestle 31 is carriedby the frame of a seeddrill 33 that has its own large ground wheels 32. The seed drill 33 maybe of generally known construction-and, since such construction is notthe subject of the present invention, no further detailed description ofthe seed drill 33 is considered to be necessary. It will be noted that,as seen in side elevation, the seed drill 33 isconnected to the leadingcoupling member or trestle 2 0 by way of a parallelogram linkage that isangularly adjustable about the four axes afforded by the pins 24, 27, 29and 30. However, the coupling arms 28 andthe pivot pin 24 areinterconnected by effectively flexible but inextensible members in theform of twochains 34. It will be apparent from the drawings that thechains 34 prevent the arms 25 and 28 from turning downwardly about thepins 24 and 27 beyond the angular settings dictated by the tautconditions of those chains. The chains 34 will usually be set so thatthe arms 28 cannot normally turn downwardly about the pins 27 beyond asubstantially horizontal. dispo sition. The gearing that is providedinternally of the main frame beam or casing 1 to operate the soilworkingmembers takes the form of a row of intermeshing pinions 35 (FIG. 2)while the central shaft 2 of one of the two middle soil-working membersof the row has 'an upward extension into a gear box 36 that is providedwith' a rotary input shaft 37 that projects forwardly from said gear boxin the direction A, An intermediate telescopic transmission shaft 38 ofgenerally known construction having universal joints at its oppositeends of the vertical setting of the roller 9..is possible with thisconstruction since the pivot pins 6 are replaced by pivot bolts 39 thatare displaceable along curved slots 40 formed through said plates 41,said bolts 39 being arranged so that'they can be tightened to retainthem in any chosen settings lengthwise of the slots 40. With seed drill33 sow the required seed directly into the a thisarrangement, the axisabout which the arms 7 are tumable with respect to the frame of theimplement is itself displaceable with respect to that frame. The centersof curvature of the slots 40 are, of course, coincident with the holesin the arms 7 through which the horizontal locking pins 11 are enteredfor co-operation with the holes 12 that, in this case, are formedthrough the trapezoidal plates 41. i

In the use of the cultivating implement or cultivator which has beendescribed, the coupling member or trestle 20 is connected to thethree-point lifting device or hitch of the tractor 21 or other vehicleand the intermediate transmission shaft 38 is used to place thesoilworking members of the cultivator in driven connection with thepower take-off shaft of the same tractor 21 or other vehicle. As thecultivator is moved over the ground in the direction A, the rotatingtines 5 break up the soil, their working depth being determinedprincipally by the level of the axis of rotation of the roller 9 withrespect to the remainder of the implement, the

locking pins 11 or the-locking pins 11 and the pivot bolts 39determining this level. Much of the weight of the cultivator issustained from'the ground by the roller 9 and it will be evident thatthis roller flattens the soil that has just been broken up by the tines5. The roller 9 thus has a crumbling effect upon lumps of soil andproduces a finely divided seed bed. The coulters of the seed bedproduced by theimmediately preceding tines 5 and roller 9. The movingparts of the seed drill 33 can be driven, in knownmanner, from theground wheels 32 thereof.

The vertically disposed screening plates '14 at the opposite ends of themain frame beam or casing I prevent soil displaced by the tines 5 frombeing thrown laterally of the cultivator to any appreciable extent andit will be remembered that said screening plates 14 can be movedupwardly and downwardly to match adjustments of the settings of the arms7 about the pivot pins 6 or pivot bolts 39 by operating the brackets 18and handles 19 to free the upper ends of the rods 15 from the eccentrics17, moving the rods 15 upwardlyor downwardly as may be required andsubsequently returning the eccentrics 17 to their clamping positions.The tines 5 of thesoil-working members are long and slender and theirpreviously described trailing disposition is conducive to the bestpossible crumbling of the soil which they work. The upper portions ofthe tines 5 rotate through circles having diameters'of approximately 25centimeters. When the construction illustrated in FIG. 5 is employed,coarse adjustment of the level of the axis afforded by the stub shafts10 relative to the frame is effected by entering the locking pins 11'bring the soil-working members and roller9 well clear of contact withthe ground together with the seed drill 33 which, it will be remembered,cannot turn downwardly about the pivot pins 24 and 27 beyond the angularposition dictated by the taut lengths of the chains 34. Thus, thecoupling arms and 28 form the sole support of the seed drill 33 duringnon-operative transport thereof. It will also be noted that the chains34 prevent the coupling arms 28 from bearing against the upper surfaceof the hollow main frame beam or casing 1 since this would, in time,tend to deform or otherwise damage the beam or casing 1.

The cultivating implement or cultivator that has been described isconstructed and arranged for substantially central working with respectto the path of travel of the operating tractor 21 or other vehicle. Ifoff-set working with respect to said path of travel is desired, then themain frame beam or casing 1 may be provided with an additional couplingmember or trestle at or near one of its ends so that the implement willproject to only one side, rather than both sides, of the path of travelof the tractor 21 or other vehicle. Instead of employing the seed drill33, some other form of planting machine may be mounted at the rear ofthe cultivator or a fertilizer distributing machine or a combined seeddrill and fertilizer distributing machine may take-its place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A cultivating implement for attachment to a lifting hitch of atractor comprising a frame and a row of sideby-side rotatable tinesupport members, said support members each being rotatable about anupwardly extending shaft and said frame comprising an elongated andhorizontally extending main beam which houses a drive mechanismconnected to the shafts of said support members and said main beamextending generally transverse to the direction of intended travel, saidmain beam having a forward three point coupling member which extendsabove said beam and pivotally interconnects the implement to said hitch,a further coupling member positioned to the rear of said main beam forconnection to a trailing agricultural device, arm means interconnectingsaid coupling members to maintain same in relative position with respectto one another, said arm means comprising substantially horizontalsupport arms which pivotally connect said forward coupling member withsaid further coupling member and said support arms including a pair oflower coupling arms located at generally the same level and a singleupper coupling arm positioned at a higher level and approximatelymid-way between said two lower arms when the implement is viewed inplan, said arms extending above and across said main beam, at least oneflexible stop interconnecting said upper and lower arms to preventmovement of said arms beyond a predetermined limit, whereby theimplement and device can be raised with the lifting hitch without thearms bearing on the main beam.

2. The implement of claim 1, wherein two flexible stops interconnect theupper arm with the lower arms.

main frame beam.

1. A cultivating implement for attachment to a lifting hitch of atractor comprising a frame and a row of side-by-side rotatable tinesupport members, said support members each being rotatable about anupwardly extending shaft and said frame comprising an elongated andhorizontally extending main beam which houses a drive mechanismconnected to the shafts of said support members and said main beamextending generally transverse to the direction of intended travel, saidmain beam having a forward three point coupling member which extendsabove said beam and pivotally interconnects the implement to said hitch,a further coupling member positioned to the rear of said main beam forconnection to a trailing agricultural device, arm means interconnectingsaid coupling members to maintain same in relative position with respectto one another, said arm means comprising substantially horizontalsupport arms which pivotally connect said forward coupling member withsaid further coupling member and said support arms including a pair oflower coupling arms located at generally the same level and a singleupper coupling arm positioned at a higher level and approximately midwaybetween said two lower arms when the implement is viewed in plan, saidarms extending above and across said main beam, at least one flexiblestop interconnecting said upper and lower arms to prevent movement ofsaid arms beyond a predetermined limit, whereby the implement and devicecan be raised with the lifting hitch without the arms bearing on themain beam.
 2. The implement of claim 1, wherein two flexible stopsinterconnect the upper arm with the lower arms.
 3. The implement ofclaim 2, wherein a forward end of each stop extends from adjacent apivot connection of the upper arm with the forward coupling member,downwardly to adjacent a pivot connection of a lower arm with thefurther coupling member.
 4. The implement of claim 1, wherein saidcoupling member is a triangular shaped trestle and the upper liftinglink of said hitch is connected to the top of said trestle.
 5. Theimplement of claim 4, wherein strengthening arm means connects saidtrestle adjacent its top to said main frame beam.